Breaking Sounds

Nothing People, Ladies Night, Fums & Coolouts at the Funhouse

This Saturday in Seattle, the Funhouse will host yet another decapitating display of rock'n roll gone wrong. Vancouver's white noise piss-whistles Ladies Night, are never really appropriate for weddings or baby showers, but their ribald, scorched-earth sound schedule is keeping the weak out of the way, and the women armed with cheap drinks, and that's a really good thing. Local boners the Coconut Coolouts are some real gassers that shouldn't be missed, so be sure to loosen your pants and don't try and crack their heads open, despite the sweet milk that's waiting inside. Featuring all-star goofballs from the Charming Snakes,Invisible Eyes,Rat Fancy and the Cripples, their dirty flavored party rock is just what this world needs right now. Kind of just how we needed the Ohio Express and 1910 Fruitgum Co. in 1968, but just less acidic and with more banana costumes. Boom Boom Records' breadwinners the Fe Fi Fo Fums pull themselves out of the same deep slumber that wafted in the smell of an Englishman's blood, but these knuckleheads ain't reading no nursery rhymes, they're snapping bras and pissing on the carpet, just like we want them to. Unrestrained raw "fun" never felt this good, and the way the Fums strangle their tunes in the name of a sloppy rock'n roll good time is a real god-send in this modern day world of "being sincere," and "thinking for yourself." Be sure to pick up their top-notch album and their brand new In the Summertime 7" EP, both on Boom Boom, natch! Opening the night's ceremonies are Nothing People, are a mysterious group of ghostly Californians that have recently crept to the polluted surface to play out in public. Hopefully they'll make a good impression this fine evening before retreating to their underworld of static, depression, and hallucinations of black waterfalls. At first listen, they come off sounding like decrepid lo-fi outsider rumblings that induce paranoia and may cause your mind to melt into what resembles the twisted knee of a cypress tree. Have you ever taken a look at a cypress knee? Yeah, it's that gnarly and mind-boggling. Mostly mid-tempo, but just as ominous and unpredictable as the name Nothing People would suggest. Negative space used tastefully in music is always a magnificent accomplishment, and their infectious and repetitious drones of delight are heralding some sort of new dawn that we're anxiously anticipating. Their output as of date is only a equally elusive CD demo, but look soon for a four-song 7" EP on SS Records, released hopefully later this year. In other words, don't dick around drinking beers at home until the last minute and get down to the Funhouse in time for all four bands, and you'd better not forget your security blanket.